Child&#39;s feeding tray



N. J. MERCER CHILDS FEEDING TRAY Oct. 21, 1952 2 Sl-IEETS-Sl-IEET 1 iledNov. 12, 1946 26 INVENTOR Norma/2 JMeficer BY ATTORNEY )ct. 21, 1952 N.J. MERCER 2,514,497

' CHILD'S FEEDING TRAY Filed Nov. 12, 1946 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 I INVENTORjVbPmamJMeficer ATTORNEY Patenied Oct. 21, 1952 2,614,407

. F IC en mislE Nq l AX J:MF1'913B1"!91X9J$X; Apn cat s l i i mli 19416;splziaifiplisiaiiila 5 receiveadessert; cli shja id; a lasskso snaped hii thi'e willki an ifrisii'lati'iigv airs" dish andglass are iiip'ositio'n'.

There are also smaller reeesse s tg r e ceiye the v1 he n c -s nt mwntimi; r l t L it; pariticularlyitel esa tr i v v I "Althou h. not: limied: therem. the. PIQSQQE m ventionwillbe paxiiqlllmflyidesggipe ir igsapp cation. to;reedingitraysiioxmesii f ,p raglfilled urea 0.11: melaner foxmaldeh de, and itiisamon'giheiprimar Qbjecimflt e mf In the draiwhich may be formedg'qfplgstic;materials, 1Q tiQn,

Anotheitabjeptiils to prgvigl a psy Fig. {is-2.17911; perspective. viewof infa ntjs d. p ysiological y; planned; 211 14 1 1 e d n r a qcq traytumore quickly v small-childrenperfecteatiligih ,v ,i .7 age withsaying, 1, months a, earsq supervised feeding, which ram be reas'il-xfnbmfinfaZneyItoAZyearsjold,

'A flirthriobjectiistQfmakQa nqxel c caflzle, i;}-,,-- destructible,light-Weight, rfifildz lyrmanii fggtureq, iiieimensivej'cl'lildrerisvfeeding? 'tiia y which stain-resistant and washable in boiling watelapgl; l A which will sup ly. a complet babxi eegiing; selgpe 4 4 0;;Fig. 1 a I i vicel with its *own, hot; water disk speqiflcally o p o Fi-"1; sliqwipg' the water jacket; r e yis cupitoi fin the: babyj ihendfildish: ea ily removable. fqnichil-lin dn a rfifl fi -i ediiis each p'ii'tenanc'es including kr iife;

Fig. 3 is a bbtt,

2: 1 'i i a i se sectional view upo i the 25 line 5-41 6f Ei. 1' arid.uppn an enlarged. e as with the Vai iOuSiePDfifiem cesiieIriOTZetLtheieQn,"

I I the dfiipdh inf 'erilai'ge'd. scale as;

tor, napkin ring. fbrfn llkini or; bi ansi' i n e s cm'fipafefi 1 5 M 3i We??? ii ifi Zing? steel knife, fQrk a ndi'spggn bglalneeg arggi si zeg stoppe d DB I hfiBI Q fat-utilization bmanjinfant, R g-T i b?" W 9fiipne iewup' ri the Still further objects and advanta es Will; a 6 wihec nd pear in the more detailed dgsc gipiiox set; fqr h' 30. Fig. 7 is3 r e i ry c mn %W"' T hebelow, it; being. undgrsiopih h ter ihe l line-9 h i the e'ss dib moizeldetfailed;descriptipnis giqei by wgy j'illulstrait-lion and explamjliQn Qnl an mo -W W 99*? he 9 *3; 8 F -F i lhwlfiIimitatiO lJ inQQ 011s cliange. therein. ma e :theiackti Infide by 2058,. skilled in the art withg uiz depart: in fmmithescope am S12E11?p-1 ventioin."

m qm -iahingtthe abgm Objects, it hask found mpstss iz sia i rx. t9 a marectan axnar dishha edbas, 0 7-. frya to'piiaseiwith depending sisi wr.- face. or; main parizit nsd. qmnaxtmeni to maintain the mm. .01 1 ,0ni .q r. v child is being fed. i

This ackenisse amtel mmeq and qQnn fi i-d Jacket l v m watemight manner;to. the bottom Q! t se e main ay sec A is p v ed with a p or.- trailwith t e. cg ncctipns. mm e g i Q11, A rim u is ov deci'it n from thsto-qfr het. y 9, 110i when fil in Y CQF AQ fili ib IE9! Th'l'i'oiiggiifidopening, qenvems lr see atihe 912 i efii l? and naj xm s 't i i ts 2 andas uf en and d m wemly' l: i91

i; WW1? WW I as best shown in FIgS 9 9 B1 s. wqyis eq h h t. Water en; 1

' an outward fiange 65.

The short or side members 13 are provided with the recesses 14 whichenable the hands to be placed thereunder and enable the tray A to bereadily lifted.

As shown in Fig. 2, the table or top I of the tray is recessed at [5 andHi to receive the handle portion l1 and prong portion [8 of the fork F(see Fig. 1). It is also recessed at l9 to receive the handle portion ofthe knife G (see Fig. 1). It is further recessed at 19' and 2|respectively to receive the handle portion 22 and the bowl portion 23 ofthe spoon I-I.

As shown best in Figs. 2, 3 and 6, the recesses I5, I9 and I9 are ofincreased depth adjacent the rim H while they become increasinglyshallow toward the center of the tray A so that the implements F, G andH are held firmly in place as the tray is carried at the hand holdportions I4.

The dessert dish C (see Fig. '7) fits in the recess 24 in the tray A.The recess 24 has a bottom 25 above the lower edges 26 and 21 of theside Walls l2 and I3. I

The dessert dish C (see Figs. 1 and '7) is provided with a curved rim 28which will form a space 29 around the top of the recess 24 and it hasthe side walls 30 and the bottom 3| having a spacer ridge 32. At oneside it is provided with a hollow relatively fiat rabbit-like figure 33extending over the recess 34 (see Fig. '7) The element 33 forms a handlefor the dish C and the recess 34 enables it to be readily grasped by thehand. The side walls 38 are spaced in respect to the side Walls 35 ofthe recess 24 so that there will be a space 38 around the dish C whichwill act to insulate the dish together with the air space 31 which isformed by the ridge 32 resting upon the bottom 25 of the recess 24.

The recess 38 (see Figs. 2 and 6) receiving the glass D has its sidewall39 and its bottom wall 40. The bottom 43 of the glass D is doomedupwardly to form the air space 42, while the side walls 44 are spacedapart sufficiently so as to leave the air space 4| inside of the sidewalls 39 of the recess 38. The air gaps 4| and 42 will give an airinsulation to the glass D.

The hot dish portion B (see Figs. 1 and 2) is provided with threecompartments 48, 49 and 50 which are divided by spaced walls which takethe form of an inverted U-structure.

Enclosing the bottom of the compartmented hot food dish B is the hotwater container J (see Figs. 3 to 5). The container J has a base and asubstantially cylindrical side wall Bl terminating in the oifset portionI52. This oifset portion 62 extends under the opening or recess 63 fromwhich extends the downward spout or conical wall 64. The side walls 6|as well as the extension wall 62 of the hot liquid tray J are providedwith The flange 65 carries a series of outward lugs or projections 66,61 and 68 (see Fig. 3) receiving the screws 69, I0 and H which screwinto the lugs or bosses 12 (see Fig. 8) formed on the bottom face orunder surface of the table or tray top In.

Extending downwardly from the top or table In (as best shown in Fig. 4)are the inside fin l3 and the outside fin 14 between which is receivedthe gasket 15.

The flange 65 will fit between the fins l3 and I4 and compress thegasket 15 thus forming a water tight connection (see Figs. 4, 5 and 8).At the forward and rear sides of the hot Water dish J, the outside finl4 joins the enlargements or bosses l6 and 1'! respectively.

The spout 64 or opening 63 is preferably stopped by the conical stopperencircled by the rubber tube 19. The stopper 80 may be molded integrallywith a napkin ring E having the circular portion 18 with an animalfigure 8| in front to enhance the appearance.

The tray section A as well as the under hot water tray J may be formedof a rag filled molded melamine or urea formaldehyde resin of suchconstruction as to be resistant to hot water and having sufficientlynegligible expansion between 10 F. and 220 F.

The elements C, D and E as well as the handles F, G and H may be made ofa cellulose filled resin of the same nature. In manufacture the parts A,C, D, E and F may be molded separately and the jacket J then screwed tothe bottom of the tray A after the gasket 15 has been placed inposition.

In utilization by removing the napkin ring, it is possible to fill thejacket J with hot water or remove water therefrom. The heat from thejacket J will be confined to the vicinity of the multi-compartmentrecess B since the rag filled resin is not too good a conductor of heat.The air jackets 36-31 and 4|--42 will give additional insulation to thedessert in container 0 and the drink in container D. Even with hot waterin the jacket J, the tray A may be readily lifted by grasping the handholds l4. Y

The animal figures 33 and BI as well as the im lements F, G and H willattract the child and enable the feeding, training and instructions allto proceed more quickly and with less difficulty.

Although the dimensions may vary widely it has been found satisfactoryin one commercial embodiment to give the tray A a height of 1.813, awidth of 10.375" and a length of 16.251" and the average thickness ofthe molded resin is .090". The jacket J may have a diameter of As manychanges could be made in the above childrens feeding tray and manyapparently Widely different embodiments of this invention could be madewithout departing from the scope of the claims, it is intended that allmatter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanyingdrawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limitingsense.

What is claimed'is:

1. A childrens feeding tray comprising a thin table-like structurehaving a depending skirt structure to elevate and support the same andhaving a depressed compartmented portion forming a food receptacle and ahot water container fitted under said depressed portion and enclosingthe bottom of the same in water-tight fashion, said table-like structurewith said depending structure being integrally molded in one piece of aplastic and said hot water container being also integrally molded in onepiece of a plastic, and the upper edges of'sai'd hot Watercontainerhaving outward lugs forattachment to the bottom of saidtable-like structure, and a gasket positioned between said upper edgesof said hot water container and the under surface of the table to form aWater-tight connection.

2. A childrens feeding tray comprising a thin table-like structurehaving a depending skirt structure to elevate and support the same andhaving a depressed compartmented portion forming a food receptacle and ahot water container fitted under said depressed portion and enclosingthe bottom of the same in water-tight fashion, said depending structureconsisting of a continuous skirt surrounding said hot water container,

' said table-like structure with said depending tom of said table-likestructure, and a gasket positioned between said upper edges of said hotwater container and the under surface of the table to form a water-tightconnection.

3. A childrens feeding tray comprising a thin table-like structurehaving a depending skirt structure to elevate and support the same andhavng a depressed oompartmented portion forming a food receptacle and ahot water container fitted under said depressed portion and enclosingthe bottom of the same in water-tight fashion, said container having asingle water inlet and outlet through said table-like structure and a-napkin ring having a stopper for closing said inlet and outlet, saidtable-like structure with :said depending structure being integrallymolded in one piece of a plastic and said hot water container being.also integrally molded in one piece of a plastic," and the upper edgesof said hot water container having outward lugs for attachment to thebottom of said table-like structure, and a gasket positioned betweensaid upper edges of said hot ,water container and the under surface ofthe table to form a water-tight connection.

4'. A childrens feeding tray comprising a thin table-like structurehaving a depending skirt theupper edgesof said hot water containerhaving outward lugs for attachment to the bottom of said table-likestructure, and Ya gasket posi-' tioned'between said upper edges of saidhot water container and the under surface of the table to form awater-tight connection.

5. A'childrens feeding tray comprising a table 3 of thin rag-filledmelamine-formaldehyde resin, a substantially continuous downwardlydepending outwardly curved skirt to support said table in elevatedposition and molded integrally with said table, said table beingprovided on its top with spaced depressions to receive a dessert dish, aglass, a knife, a fork and a spoon and hot foods, and having attachmentbosses on its under surface and a gasket receiving sealing channelencircling the depression for hotfoods and a hot water jacket havingattachment lugs and a compression'flange fitted into said channel andcompressing said gasket in said channel, said table being provided witha filling opening for said jacket.

'N-ORMAN J. MERCER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references areof record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number I Name Date D. 162,860 Mercer Apr. 10, 1951187,481 Pierce Feb. 20, 1877 757,548 Goodrich Apr. 19, 1904 1,006,135Schleicher Oct. 17, 1911 1,167,934 Roth Jan. 11, 1916 1,177,494 CurtissMar. 28, 1916 1,429,783 Scott Sept. 19, 1922 1,478,359 Gallagher Dec.18, 1923 ,480,460 Nuttall Jan. 8, 1924 1,511,265 Chilson Oct. 14, 19241,593,650 I Bultman July 27, 1926 1,661,787 Chisholm Mar. 6, 19281,666,389 Mander Apr. 17, 928 1,677,276. Deicken July 17, 1928 1,862,533Fish, Jr. June 14, 1932 1,881,428 Finch Oct. 11, 1932 1,923,508 RossAug. 22, 1933 1,938,909 Hufl Dec. 12, 1933 1,948,778 Zoia Feb. 27, 19342,042,210 Clay May 26, 1936 2,175,500 Bemis Oct. 10, 1939 2,182,682Shroyer Dec. 5, 1939 2,184,336 Devine Dec. 26, 1939 2,213,837 Gill Sept.3, 1940 2,240,602 Bartsch May 6, 1941 2,339,580 Park Jan, 18, 1944 ,35,383 Bartsch July 11, 1944 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 280,300Great Britain Nov. 17, 1927 317,343 Great Britain Aug. 9, 1929 337,614Great Britain Nov. 6, 1930 489,180 Great Britain July 21, 1938 553,089Great Britain May 6, 1943

